Guard
by Chosen Dragon
Summary: Aqua knows only one thing about her parents: one was a Royal Guard and the other was a royal. One day, she sets off to the castle in order to join the guards, but a problem is posed: they don't accept women. AU, TerrAqua, quite cliche at least my my standards . MAY become T later. Unlikely, but a warning anyway.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know, not accepting women and all that is pretty clichéd. But hey, I really wanted to write a TerrAqua. Expect another TerrAqua from me, though this one will be in an AU a lot like modern earth.**  
**By the by, this is my first even _slightly_ romantic story. Go easy on me, k'? Enjoy.**

* * *

Aqua knew one thing about her parentage. She could remember being told it by her grandfather when she was five, sitting on his withered knee.  
"Aqua," he had petted her long blue hair. She had not cut it once, ever, and it fell like a blue river around her shoulders "Aqua... you're a clever girl. You've noticed you and Kairi are a little... different the some other children."  
"Yeh!" Little Aqua chirped "They have mommies and daddies and we have you guys."  
"Very true. Do you know why?"  
"...No." Aqua admitted.  
"Hm. Well, you see my wife and I, we had one child." Grandpa said.  
Aqua knew this part "Kairi's mommie!"  
"Good." Grandpa glanced over to the crib in with the tiny infant slept, peacefully for the moment. "Kairi's mother died bringing her into this world."  
He didn't need to elaborate. Aqua had seen births. Grandma had experience as a midwife and sometimes women were brought to her to have their children. Aqua had watched once or twice from a safe distance.  
Aqua had also seen deaths. A couple years ago, a man was brought back from a hunting trip gored by a bore. There had been a lot of blood, and Aqua had watched the man, who she had seen walking and breathing yesterday, just stop, despite the doctor's best efforts  
Grandpa continued "Her father left her mother when he realized she was going to have Kairi. It was a terrible thing, one we can never forgive. That is why she has no mommie or daddie"  
Aqua nodded gravely.  
"Now, your parents... family friends. We had known one as a child of this village for a very long time. When they went off the join the guard- well! We were so proud. At the castle, there was a visiting diplomat, the second child of the king, who, being second, was not destined to have the throne. There, they fell in love and got married in secret, publicity you understand. Well, maybe you don't, but still.  
"Eventually, they had you. Only a few months after your birth, the castle was attacked. They fought off the invaders eventually, but your parents were among the casualties. You were alone. Eventually, one of the guards recognized you and sent you to us."  
"So... I'm a princess?" Aqua hazarded  
"Not really," said her Grandpa. "Your parents got married in secret."  
"Oh," Aqua looked crestfallen.  
"But are to me." He hugged her.  
"One day, I'm gonna grow up to be just like my parents." Aqua swore silently as she smiled up at her grandfather.

Now, ten years later she was for filling the promise.

Bag? Check.  
Change of clothes? Check.  
Knife? Check.  
Food? Check.  
Munny? Check.  
Papers? Check.

Aqua took a deep breath and turned to the mirror. Her long blue hair reached the back of her knees, even done up by her sister in a tight braid and she was wearing a long black dress with a blue under dress showing through precisely cut holes.  
It was new and itchy and Aqua hated it. Why couldn't she wear trousers like the boys? It would be much less... problematic.  
But it wouldn't matter, not where she was going.  
"Aqua honey! Your porridge is getting cold!"  
"I know grandmum!"  
Why was grandma letting her do this? It was illegal, punishable by imprisonment or death. It was... crazy!  
But she had sworn, sworn to herself to follow in her parents footsteps, and a diplomat was out of the question  
She was going to become a guard.

The breakfast table was very quiet. Even Kairi grasped how much gravity this event had.  
After Aqua finished with her lumpy porridge (she could tell Grandma was trying to thin it out, just for her) she scrubbed the wooden bowl in the sink and, still silent, went upstairs to grab her packed bag.  
When she came back down, the table cleared had been away but Grandma and Kairi were still sitting there.  
A pang of guilt twanged in Aqua's stomach. She felt kind of bad about leaving 80 year old grandma with 10 year old Kairi, but with grandpa's death last year, there were no more wages coming in. They needed someone to support them, and that would be Aqua.  
"Well," she said awkwardly. Aqua was bad at long goodbyes.  
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Grandma.  
"Yes," despite everything she was leaving Aqua had never been so sure in her life. There were footsteps in the sand, and she was going to see where they led.  
"Good," her Grandmother smiled "With determination like that, you'll become captain."  
Aqua smiled too, but it was quickly wiped off her face with a sniffle for Kairi. "Why'd you have to go?" She bawled, and hugged Aqua.  
Aqua hugged her back. The girl wasn't her sister, but she felt like she was. "First we're running out of money. I know you know that. Second, I want to follow in my father's footsteps. I want to be a guard."  
"But women aren't allowed in the guards."  
"I know."  
She let go of Kairi and wiped away a tear. "I'd better get a head start if I want to get there by afternoon. Expect you first payment in a week. I love you all and hope to see you again"

"Not in the gallows," added her Grandmother  
With a final smile, Aqua turned and left without a backwards glance.

* * *

Aqua glanced up at the sun. It was right at its zenith. Noon.

She was making good time. The castle would be there just when she made way over- oh my.  
Aqua had stopped in the middle of the road, heedless of the traffic behind her. It was the first time she had seen the castle.  
It was... big. Really big. The whole castle was made of some sort of purple porcelain-like stone with darker roofs, accented in gold and red. Huge spires brushed the sky and the massive gold drawbridge was down, connected to the towering wall with gargantuan gold chains. Beyond the drawbridge, a there was a huge waiting area where permits were checked, carts searched and people let into the city itself.  
Aqua gulped. She was going to have to get through there before she could go to the guards barracks. Steeling herself, Aqua walked forward.  
It was a short way to the drawbridge and Aqua went with the flow of the crowd. She was good at it, she realized, as they funneled over the bridge and under the golden arch.  
Then everything slowed down. The huge purgatory, as Aqua had come to see it, was filled with bustling people, rattling carts, and stinking animals.  
On the wall directly in front of her, there were six doorways, two huge ones in the center for carts and animals and two smaller ones on each side of people. Each small door was manned by two guards and the big ones were manned by four. Three doors seemed to be three "in" doors and three the "out." All the 'in' had huge line behind them.  
Making a quick decision, Aqua got into the shortest line, the far left one, pulled her papers out of her backpack and waited nervously.  
Almost 15 minutes had gone by before she finally reached the gate. By that time, Aqua was drenched in nervous sweat and her braid was coming undone, but she still managed to glare at the two pike-wielding guards whom she handed her paper too. One of them was not wearing his helmet in an I'm-too-cool-to-wear-my-helmet-cause-it'll-mess-up-my-fasonably-spikey-hair kinda way. Besides the standard issue pike, huge sword broadsword was strapped to his back. He gave Aqua a cocky smile before handing the paper to the other guard, who was wearing his helmet.  
"Chaperone?" asked the helmetless guard.  
"What?" answered Aqua.  
"Ch-ap-er-one," he said, slowly, as if to a child "like, a man that's with you."  
"I-" she was unaware she needed a chaperone. This was bad. "He's inside."  
"Uh-huh. Haven't heard that one before."  
"He is!" Aqua insisted, clinging to her lie.  
"Sorry miss. Can't let you in because you haven't got a chaperone. I know it's dumb, but it's the rules."  
"But-"  
"Ma'am, I-"  
"Let her in Zack," said the helmeted guard.  
"What?" said Aqua and Zack together.  
"I said let her in," the helmeted guard had a nice voice.  
"Th- thank you," Aqua stuttered.  
"Don't make me regret it," he handed her papers back to her.  
"I won't," -comrade, she mentally added as she stepped through the doorway.  
Glancing back at the helmeted guard, she noticed that beside the pike, he had a very strange sword strapped to his belt. The hilt was circular and the sheath betrayed a much wider blade then the sliver of earthen red blade poking out between the guard and the top of the sheath actually was. And was that... a chain attached to the hilt?  
Aqua had no more time to observe it, because she was whisked away in the crowd.

* * *

Aqua was lost. There was no point in denying it. She has been walking around for hours, her feet were tired, and the sun was setting.  
Aqua rounded the next corner and let out a groan. In front of her was the drawbridge, beginning to close for the night.  
Biting her lip, Aqua sat down on the nearest available seat, the edge of a fountain. Running water helped her think better, she had found.  
Twisting her braid so it wouldn't get wet, Aqua glanced to her right and saw a plaque reading;

_To the heroes of the Unversed wars, may they rest in peace._

The Unversed wars. That was when her parents died. Aqua glanced up at the monument. There was a man in front, posed dynamically with his hand on the hilt of a sword, ready to pull it from its sheath. The hilt... it looked a lot like the hilt of the helmeted guard's sword. Was that just a popular fashion here?  
Behind the man was a woman holding a baby. There was a small fountain on the top of her head that was posed just so that it made her long hair look like a rippling curtain of water.  
Aqua squinted. The hand that was not holding the baby was hidden in her skirt but... was it holding a dagger? No, no woman holding a weapon would be put in the town square. It was just a trick of the light. But still, a master sculptor...  
Aqua tore her eyes away from the statue just in time to see the pair of guards who had "welcomed" her to the city closing up their gate. Zack, the unhelmeted one, was complaining to the helmeted guard who, was shaking his head.  
In the dispersing crowd, Aqua could just make out the words.  
"Man, I hate gate duty," said Zack  
"What are you going to do about it?" asked Helmet Head "Complain to Eraqus?"  
"No! He'll assign me to sewer duty! I'm complaining to you."  
"Pfft." The helmeted guard reached up and clicked the claps on his helmet. "What am I supposed to do about it?"  
He took off his helmet. Messy, brown, shoulder length hair sprung into being and cobalt blue eyes rolled sarcastically.  
Aqua was presently surprised.  
"You should cut your hair," instructed Zack  
"You're telling me?" He laughed, and punched his friend playfully in the shoulder. Then he saw Aqua and the smile slowly faded from his face.  
"What?" Asked Zack then saw where his friend was looking "Oh."  
They turned away and there was a whispered conversation. Thirty seconds later, Zack spun the other man around and forced him towards Aqua. He approached nervously.  
"Umm... Ma'am. I... um... have to ask if you've met your chaperone yet?"  
Aqua looked up at the man. He was... handsome, tan and muscular. The expression on his serious face was worried. Worried about her?  
"Eh..." Aqua came back to reality. Maybe the truth was best. Or part of the truth. "I'm kinda lost."  
"We can point you to any part of the city." He said helpfully.  
"Really? Ok, I was looking for the guards barracks."  
"What?" He chocked. Ok, she had come on too strong.  
"My chaperone is a guard!" She said quickly. "He wanted to meet me there."  
The man calmed down somewhat. "Ok. Actually, my friend and I were heading there now. Care to come with us?"  
"Sure," Aqua stood and hefted her pack. "Less likely to get lost."  
"Zack!" The man shouted "Come on!" He turned back to Aqua."I'm sorry, Ma'am, I didn't catch your name."  
"Aqua."  
"Terra. Shall we go?"

They set off.

* * *

The guard house was not as impressive as Aqua had believed. Actually, it was a tiny door in the palace wall which led to a long, low ceilinged room filled with bunk beds, few of which were occupied. On the other end of the room there was a staircase up, to the interior of the castle and down to the sewers, assumedly.  
"Now, where is he?" Asked Zack.  
"Coming?" Hazarded Aqua.  
The boys looked at each other 'bad idea' mouthed Terra. Zack nodded.  
"I- um" Aqua grasped for something to save her. With relief, she noticed a small door in the left wall. "In here?" She headed over to it.  
"Hold on, that's-" Terra held up a hand to stop her, but it was too late. Aqua had already gone through the door.  
Inside was a small, sparsely furnished room, with a section in the protected by a curtain, lit only by a few candles on a huge wooden desk in the middle of the room, full of haphazard piles of paper. Behind the desk was a middle aged man with black hair tied back in a pony tail, a mustache, goatee, and multiple scars cutting through his face. His steely grey eyes were hard, yet kind as well.  
He looked up from his paperwork "Hello?"  
"Erm... hello?" Aqua replied.  
"May I ask who you are?"  
"Aqua, sir." She saw the man had multiple metals attached to the breastplate of his armor. A high ranking officer? No, the highest, taking into account the personal office.  
His brow furrowed "Aqua? Did I know y-"  
"Sir, are you commander of the Guard?" She interrupted him.  
"Yes, Commander Eraqus is my name. Why?"  
Aqua took a deep breath, closed her eyes and said, all at once "SirIwanttojointhegaurd!"  
The room was silent as the Commander stared at her  
"Aqua. You must be aware there are no women allowed in the guard."  
"I know sir." She hung her head. Why had she done that? It was so dumb. She should have waited, prepared, gone in disguise-  
"You shall have to something about the hair then."  
Her head snapped up "What?"  
"Your hair. You'll have to cut it." He was smiling, his eyes sparkling. "And you'll have to do something about... the rest of you you." He gestured "and find a pair of trousers."  
"You mean... you're letting me in the guard?"  
He nodded. Aqua was lost for words.  
"One more thing. Boys?"  
There was a, un-manly squeak being the door, which opened to revel a very sheepish Zack and Terra. "Sir?"  
"Get this girl some armor in her size, some trousers, a shirt, and a strip of cloth about... yea wide?" He held up his hands. "Oh, and say hello to your new comrade."  
Aqua was still in shock.  
She had done it. She had walked in the footsteps and joined the guard. And it had been so easy...  
"Aqua." Eraqus's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Come with me." When he stood, Aqua noticed his sword had the same round hilt with the chain attached as Terra and the statue at the fountain. Ignoring this for now, she followed him dumbly to the back of the room, behind the curtained off section. It was a small living space, with bed, dresser, and wash table, complete with mirror.  
"I'm going to go now. Cut your hair, and I'll come back when Terra and Zack have your clothes." He patted her on the shoulder before he left. "Welcome to the guard."  
Aqua stared at the table's mirror. Most of her hair had fallen loose for the braid and the dust on the bottom made it look like a waterfall. She loosed the rest of the hair and glared at herself in the mirror. She looked so girly. That was going to have to change. Aqua had thought she was going to have time to prepare, time to study and learn.  
Oh well.  
Aqua reached into her pack and brought out her knife. Technically, it was illegal for women to carry weapons unless in times of total war. But she wasn't a woman anymore.  
Aqua gathered up all her hair low behind her head and laid the knife to it.  
The saddest thing was: she wasn't sad at all.  
In fact, Aqua was grinning.

_Snip._

* * *

**A/N: So, boys and girls what say you? You like? You no like? Should I keep writing? Also, if you came here looking for TerrAqua, that will come later.**

**Also I would me VERY APERECIATIVE if someone could think of a male name for Aqua. I suck at that stuff.**

**R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts and related games and characters.  
I wish I did.**

**A/N: I hope people liked the last one, cause here's another!**

**Also; ERAQUS IS SOOOO OOC. Forgive me D:**

* * *

Aqua stared at herself in the mirror. The right side was a little shorter... she flicked her knife and a piece of hair went flying. There. Aqua pushed herself back from the wash table and admired her reflection.  
Her unnaturally blue hair, once almost as long as she was tall, was chin length now, chopped as evenly as Aqua could with a knife (not that evenly) and she was wearing the clothes that Terra and Zack had gotten her were soft and fit surprisingly well, although the trousers chafed a bit. The strip of cloth Aqua had wrapped around her chest to flatten it chaffed a considerable bit more, but she could stand it.  
Aqua turned her attention to the armor laid out on the bed. It was silver and standard issue, breastplate, gauntlets, boots and a helmet all marked the Guard's emblem, a heart-like symbol with a cross on the bottom.  
After Aqua had put it on, she felt at least 15 pounds heavier. Was she going to have to lug all this armor around all day, every day? Then she remembered; this was the _light _armor.  
With a slight sigh, Aqua walked out into the office. Eraqus turned and smiled at her. "Ah, Aqua!" He nodded as her surveyed her "You look quite different. No one who didn't know you already will ever recognize you, and I don't think that'll be a problem."  
"Thank you sir." Aqua replied. "It was my aim."  
"Hmmmm… one more thing. You're gonna need a different name." He seemed lost in thought, "and new papers... Come in!" He said it almost randomly, but the door opened and Terra was standing there.  
Aqua was impressesed. This Eraqus was quite an interesting person.  
"Master," Terra began, and then saw Aqua. His mouth stayed open. Then he looked at Eraqus, then back at Aqua, Eraqus, Aqua. "Is that..?"  
Eraqus nodded happily.  
"I don't look that different, do I?" Aqua asked.  
"Yes-well, no, but-" Terra stuttered.  
"Are you... blushing?"  
"No! What makes you say that?"  
"Well, your face is red, for one"  
"No fighting boys. Terra, close the door," instructed Eraqus. Terra did so. "Now, Terra, I am instructing you and Mr. Fair to take care of Aqua here. Make sure she learns the ropes. Keep her safe from prying eyes."  
Terra blushed harder (Aqua was quite confused at the reason here.) "If I may ask sir, why?"  
"Because you already know about her. I won't have to tell anyone else and risk exposing her anymore. Besides, you and Mr. Fair have been... in need of some discipline."  
"Master." It was almost like a whine.  
"Now, shoo. Get Aqua a sword."  
"Yes master." Terra turned to Aqua "Come on."  
They left Eraqus's office, Aqua behind Terra, and began heading purposefully towards the stairs at the back of the barracks and some unknown destination. Loping around to Terra's side, Aqua glanced up at his face.  
"Weren't counting on having to bring me along, huh?" She asked.  
"Wuh?" Terra lifted from his thoughts "Oh. Well, yeh, but it's not a bad thing."  
"Hah, I'll try my best to stay off your nerves."  
"It's no problem, really." Terra waved her off "You'll be a welcome change to Zack."  
Aqua didn't believe him, but let it go. She would try not to bother them too much.  
Terra and Aqua were climbing the stairs now. A moment later, they emerged into a large courtyard. Night was falling and even though the training dummies set up in circles and lines were shrouded in shadow, Aqua could see huge sword slashes in their burlap stomachs. In the center of the courtyard, there was a large well and opposite the stairwell there was a pair of double doors, most likely leading into the castle. On the left wall was a small shack, open on one side and expelling a soft fiery glow. On the left wall was a long horse stable filled with horses.  
Terra immediately led Aqua over to the small shed, despite her glances at the horse stable. She had never owned a horse (too expensive) but Aqua loved them anyway.  
"Come on," Terra pushed Aqua away from the horses and into the shack.  
The shack was, in fact, a smithy and an armory combined. A huge forge set along the back walls glowed with coals, a scarred anvil set in front of it. The walls were lined with weapons, armor and metallic paraphernalia of all kinds. A man was working the smithy, pumping the bellow to heat up a bar of metal in the forge.  
"Braig!" Terra shouted and the man turned. Aqua's eyes were dragged to the scar and eye path adorning the side of his face.  
"Terra," he greeted them warmly. "Is this a new recruit?"  
"Yep. Sh- erm, _he_ needs a weapon."  
"Well," Braig gestured "help yourselves."  
So the search began.  
Terra took Aqua to the left wall and carefully selected a sword.  
"Here," he handed it to her, holding the blade "It's blunt."  
Carefully, she took it by the handle and the second Terra let go there was a loud resounding clang as the sword hit the floor.  
Terra closed his eyes and suppressed a groan as Braig snickered and Aqua struggled to pick up the sword.  
"Ok," Terra took the sword and set it back up on the rack with a single hand.  
A _single hand_. Aqua couldn't even lift the thing with both hands, despite all the cooking, cleaning and farm work she did back at home. How strong was Terra anyway? He _looked_ quite muscular.  
"Let's try another, then" Terra scanned the wall.  
The search continued.  
An hour later, it was still going on. Braig had finished what he was doing and was sitting on his anvil, watching the two guardspeople moving towards the fraying ends of their nerves.  
The broadsword was too heavy.  
The knife was too light.  
The long sword was too long.  
The short sword was too short.  
The morning star was too brutal.  
The crossbow was too unpredictable.  
The gloves just felt wrong.  
With the rejection of the spear, Terra finally broke.  
"Why don't you just kick people, because it's _obvious_ there is nothing here for you."  
Aqua just glared at him from tired eyes. She was just as frustrated as Terra, but she was just better at hiding it. "Maybe I should." She turned and was about to leave when across the room, she saw a long thin sword, a little longer then arms length and with a round blade tapering to a point and a guarded hilt.  
"What's that?"  
"Foil. Fencing foil. For fencing." Explained Braig, yawning.  
Aqua picked it off its stand and swung it experimentally.  
The foil was neither too light nor to heavy, to long nor too short. It felt... alright in Aqua's hands. Not perfect, but good enough.  
"Can I use this one?" She asked Terra.  
"Why? That's for a 'gentleman's fight.' It won't work very in a real street fight."  
"Is there rule that says I can't use this one?" Aqua repeated.  
Terra thought for a moment, biting his lip. Finally, he relented "No."  
"This one please!" She handed the foil to Braig.  
"Sure," he grinned "What's the name, kid?"  
Oh no. She hadn't been prepared for that one. Fear whipped Aqua mind of all the days she had spent preparing for any question she might have been asked. What's the name, what's the name? But it was gone, lost to sheer panic of being in the watch for less than three hours.  
"Uhhh," Think, Aqua, Think! "Kai. My name is Kai."  
"Well, come back tomorrow morning, Kai. I'll have her ready for you then."  
"Thank you." They left Braig to his hammering.  
As soon as they got out into the courtyard, Terra grabbed Aqua by the arm, powerful fingers biting into her skin. "What was that?" He hissed, "Did you have _absolutely_ no plan?"  
"I did too," growled Aqua in reply "I just... panicked."  
Terra released her arm. There were light marks where his fingers had been. "Panicked? At which point did you think it was a good idea to join the guard?"  
"The point when I realized panicking was a reaction I needed to rectify."  
She was rewarded with a tired sigh.  
They walked the last few steps to the stair case in silence.  
"So," said Aqua as they finally entered the barracks. "Where's my bed?"  
Terra pointed to an unoccupied bunk.  
"How do you know?"  
"It's empty." Terra headed to the bunk opposite, under one belonging to Zack.  
"But I can't-"  
"Learn." Terra collapsed in his bunk, armor and all, and began to snore.  
Now that you mention it, Aqua thought, I _am_ pretty tired. She had been waking all day and it was late. Pausing only to remove her new armor and set down her bag, Aqua crawled into the proffered bunk and slept.

* * *

Aqua woke up slowly. She blinked and yawned before she realized something was wrong. The bed felt strange- hard (not that her normal bed was soft- it was a burlap bag stuffed with hay. This just felt like floating burlap). Her legs chaffed, her arms were sore, and her chest just _hurt_. There a slight breeze on the back of her neck. Her hair!

Aqua slapped her hand to the back of her neck before she remembered.  
Right. The guard, the disguise, Eraqus letting her in so easily, Terra.  
What? Terra? What was that? Why was he included in this list?  
Aqua scowled. That was the least of her worries right now. What time was it anyway? She cracked open one eye. The only light was candle light. There were no windows in the barracks. Unhelpful. Aqua decided to wait until someone else woke up. She closed her eyes again and was about to drift back into sleep when she heard a rustling in the bunk across from her. That was Terra's, right?  
Sneakily, Aqua cracked open her eye, then snapped it shut again. At what point in the night had Terra gotten up and decided to take off his shirt?  
She was blushing now. Why? They had known each other for less than a day. It boggled the mind. She cracked open her eye anyway.  
Across the way, Terra yawned widely, and ran a hand through his messy brown hair, before blindly stuffing his hand into the open bag under the bed, yanking out a grey tunic and sniffing it. Apparently, it passed the test, because Terra pulled it on and laced up the neck. Then her picked up his still sheathed sword and jabbed it into the bottom of the upper bunk, square into Zack's lower back.  
With a muffled "ouch!" Zack woke up and rolled off the bunk to glare at Terra.  
Grinning in response, Terra crossed over to Aqua's bunk and shook her shoulder.  
"Psst. Aqua. It's time to wake up."  
She blinked, pretending to be sleepy. "Wah?"  
"Oh, so you jab me, but shake her," hissed Zack as he pulled on his own shirt and buckled on his armor.  
"Shut up," retorted Terra, and turned back to Aqua. "Come on, we gotta relieve the night watch."  
Aqua sat up and shook her head. "Do what?"  
"I'll explain when you get your armor on."  
She did, and then followed Terra as he climbed the stairs to the courtyard.  
"We have a night watch who defends the castle and walks the beat at night. In the day, when the day guard is out... guarding, the night watch sleeps in the barracks. Every morning, a couple people go out and tell the night watch to come in and wakes up the guard. Vice versa for the evening. You came at one of those times."  
"Is Zack wakening people up?"  
"He got the fun job." Terra grinned a surprisingly evil grin, "There are so many ways to wake people up, you wouldn't believe."  
Aqua snorted at the pictures that entered her mind.  
"Oh," Terra added, as they passed the Blacksmith's shop. "We can come back and get your sword when we finish."  
Making small talk, the two guardspeople went through the large double doors at the end of the courtyard, into a mundane hallway, and turned left into another small hallway ending in a set of stairs leading up and opening to the top of the wall.  
Ooh-ing, Aqua glanced over the railing on both sides, seeing the courtyard they had just been in on one side and the moat on the other.  
"Come on," Terra led her to the base of a tower. There was a small machine set up in the center of the walkway.  
Terra reached into a sack by the side of the machine, pulled out a match, struck it on the railing, lit a pile of tinder in a small cavity on the back, closed the door, spun the machine so it faced the tower opposite them, and clicked a handle so the shutter opened and shut and the light flashed.  
**Short long short pause short pause long pause short short pause short long short pause short stop.**  
There was a momentary pause before flashes of light were returned.  
**Long long long pause long short long.**  
"What is that?" Asked Aqua, amazed.  
"Oh, it's a form of code we use to communicate with the rest of the castle. It's really helpful; we don't have to use runners at all."  
Terra flashed a message back:  
**Long short pause short pause short long long pause pause short long short pause short pause long short long short pause long short long pause short short long pause short short pause long pause pause short short short pause short long pause long short long long pause pause short short short short pause short pause short long short short pause long long long.  
**In reply:  
**Short short short short pause short pause short long short short pause short long short short pause long long long**  
"What'd they say?"  
"'Hello.' Come on; let's go get your sword."

The forge was empty, unsurprising since they had kept Braig up so late. Leaning against the anvil was the sword, sharpened to a needle point. A piece of paper with a hole in it was attached to a string tied around the hilt. It read 'Kai.' Next to the sword was a sheath and belt, ready for Aqua to don and use.  
"All right," she grinned, sheathing her new sword, "When do we get too meet out some justice?"  
"Don't get cocky," Terra replied, "We are not letting you out on the streets your first day."  
"Aw." Aqua looked crest fallen.  
"You need training. Wait here, I'm getting Zack."  
He hurried off and Aqua took a seat on the central well and waited. About a minute later, Terra re-appeared, dragging Zack behind him, much to the young man's wild protests that he had no idea how to fence.  
"You've been to competitions, yeh?"  
"But it's not like I actually know how!"  
"Who do you propose I ask?"  
Zack opened his mouth for a moment, closed it, opened it, and finally closed it again, defeated.  
"Besides, this is only temporary until we can find some sort of fencing teacher for her- him." Terra quickly corrected himself as a pair of guardsmen exited the stair case besides them. "Oh, and his name is Kai."  
"Got it," Zack brushed himself off and walked over to Aqua. "You ready for some training?"

* * *

Aqua collapsed into the bed, groaning. Everything hurt.  
Across the way Terra smiled. "Zack's a good trainer, huh?"  
"Are you kidding me? He made me fight him when there are perfectly good training dummies to train on!"  
"At least he used a wooden sword."  
"A wooden replica of his sword! Do you have any idea how much that thing weighs?"  
Terra just snickered in response.  
"Am I gonna have to train again with Zack tomorrow?" Aqua moaned.  
"Not all day." Replied Terra "We can't go wasting valuable resources like Zack on you all day, every day. Commander Eraqus will give you an easy assignment to do in the morning, and then you'll get more training in the afternoon."  
"Thank gods," sighed Aqua and fell asleep.

**A/N: That is morse code they are signaling with, (Or as close as I could get with a google image) so you can figure it out if that's the sort of thing you like.**

**Ummmm... I was gonna say something else but I forgot.**

**Sorry if this is kinda late, it's that big-test-end-of-school-year time.**

**Thanks for the review/ favorites/ subscriptions guys!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi guys. The end of the school year is finally here! I hope to post more often over the summer, but I'm going away for two weeks in August to Europe for the first time ever! I've always wanted to go there, so this is really exciting. It also means I won't be able to post stories, having no computer. Sorry.**

**One more thing. I've decided to take away Aqua's magic power for the course of the story. There will be people with an inborn ability to do magic, but Aqua won't have it. It seems to me that if she could do magic, she would be a mage, not a guard.**

* * *

Aqua remembered quicker that morning. She lay in bed with her whole body hurting and bruised from yesterdays training and it rushed back, the events of the past two days. What did fate have in store for her today, Aqua wondered. It was no doubt, painful. Just walking would be painful, considering all her bruises.  
"Aqua," She turned to see Terra standing over her bed. "Let's go signal the night watch."  
So the day began.  
Aqua donned her armor and followed Terra across the courtyard, up the stairs, and along the wall to the signaling machine where Terra lit the fire and clicked out his message.  
"Will you teach me the code?" Aqua asked.  
"Sure," Terra reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin, rice paper book, "Read this," As Aqua took it, a thought seemed to occur to him "You can read, right?"  
"Yeh." Aqua felt kind of awkward admitting it. It was unusual for a peasant to be able to read (especially a woman) and was, while not illegal, shunned by most. But somebody needed to do the books after Grandpa died, and they couldn't afford a scribe.  
"Right," Terra finished his signaling and turned back to Aqua "Study that."  
She put the book in her pocket "Now what?"  
"You get a job."

* * *

Eraqus studied Aqua thoughtfully over his desk. "No friends today, I see."  
"No sir." Terra had refused to go in Eraqus's office with her, claiming there was important work to be done (likely) and she just plain couldn't find Zack.  
"Ah, well," sighed Eraqus "Their loss."  
"You said you had a job for me, sir?"  
"Very well then. As the newest member of the guard, I feel obliged to put you to work on your second day. Therefore, you are assigned to the library."  
"Sir?"  
"You may or may not be aware the castle has a huge selection of books, one of the largest in the world. The librarian, Ansem, is quite protective of his books, but he's no warrior."  
"So you want me to stand outside the library and make sure no one gets in?"  
"Not nobody, just nobody without a card. And you don't have to stand outside the library the whole time, just when Ansem needs you."  
Aqua bit back a retort. "Yes sir."  
"Very good then!" Eraqus clapped his hands "I'll get Terra or Zack to show you the library."  
"Is that all sir?"  
"Yes Aqua -or Kai, I suppose- you may go."  
"Thank you, sir." She left the office and glanced around the barracks for her two allies. The library wasn't all bad, she supposed, although she had hoped to be in the streets after training. There seemed to be no training and no streets for her.  
Seeing Zack suiting up, Aqua sauntered over, tapping him politely on the shoulder. "Zack."  
"Hm?" He turned around "Is that a mosquito I feel?"  
"It's me, idiot. Eraqus said you'd take me to the library."  
"K', I can do that. Before we do that though, when you're trying to get someone's attention, don't tap them. Punch em'!" He demonstrated.  
"_Ouch_!"  
"No squealing! Men do not squeal."  
"Wha?" Aqua asked confusedly.  
Zack opened his mouth to explain, but glanced around at the crowded room. "Come on."  
Once the two had crossed the courtyard and entered the castle, Zack sighed "Aqua, I don't know you very well and while I'm _sure_ you make a wonderful woman, you make a terrible man. I have no idea how you thought you were going to last a week in the guard."  
"Practice before hand," muttered Aqua, glaring at the marble floor as they walked the empty corridors.  
"Hmph," Zack chuckled, "Well, whatever you were going to do, Terra and I have decided to help you."  
"I'm..." Aqua searched for the word "flattered."  
"Well, we try." They arrived at a large pair of golden double doors. "Anyway, this is the library. Have fun at your new job!" Zack walked away laughing.  
After shaking her fist at Zack's retreating back Aqua turned back to the door, "Right." She steeled herself and pushed it open.  
Then Aqua forgot to breathe.  
There were hundreds glittering gold bookshelves reaching from floor to ceiling packed with a rainbow of books. High among the shelves was a loft like a tree house in a forest of books filled with tables and couches. The air seemed to sparkle with condensed knowledge and paper dust.  
Taking a deep breath and reminding herself it was not socially acceptable to hug bookcases, Aqua walked unsteadily to a large desk situated directly between her and the shelves. Behind said desk was a middle aged man with sandy blonde hair and a well trimmed beard.  
"May I help you?"  
"Yes... uh... I'm the new guard here... Mr. Ansem."  
"Hm. Yes. You like to read Mr..?"  
"Kai, sir. And yes, I do. I didn't get a lot of books back home."  
"Go ahead then. Eraqus tells me you need some books on fencing."  
It took Aqua a while to process what was saying. "Really sir?"  
"Yes. I'll call you if I need you."  
Wearing a wide smile on her face, Aqua journeyed into the land of books.

* * *

First, she explored the sword fighting section. There were an ample number of books on fencing and Aqua learned plenty, but the books were dry and factual. This was good for her advancement in the guard, but boring nonetheless.  
Aqua moved on to the fantasy stories. She had never actually read a storybook, but occasionally travelers, minstrels, or storytellers would come through town with an adventure to share. Aqua loved the swordfights and adventures, the dragons and the goblins, and the pure joy of freedom that went along with it.  
The only thing Aqua disliked was the fact that the only thing a woman could be was a weeping princess or an evil old witch. She herself was an obvious exception to the rule.  
Whatever the characterization state, Aqua enjoyed the stories anyway. She read them until her borrowed name echoed through the bookshelves.  
"Kai!"  
Right. There was a job she was supposed to be doing. Replacing her book, Aqua jogged through the bookshelves to the entryway.  
There was Ansem, standing behind the desk. "Check this young man's papers please."  
There was indeed a young man standing by the desk. He had rather ridiculous hair covering one eye in an interesting shade of blue, was wearing a black robe and holding a sheaf of paper out to Aqua.  
"I... um..." Aqua glanced back at Ansem.  
"Ah," He rolled his eyes. "I'd forgotten. Zexion, Kai here is new to the guard."  
"Ah." Newly dubbed Zexion turned to Aqua and fixed an inquisitive stare on her. Aqua felt there were no secrets from him, but held her composure well.  
"So, what do I need to do? No one... explained it to me."  
Zexion grinned. "They let anyone in the guard now days. Here" He pointed to a spot on his papers, a box reading "_library access._" Under it was a complicated stamp of an open book. "This means I have library access, obviously." He flipped through his sheaf of paper until he came to one with numbers scribbled all over it. "Then, I get weighed." Ansem opened a door in the side of the desk leading to a square metal plate that Aqua had failed to notice on her way in "You take down my weight on this paper. Yes, I am a frequent visitor. When I leave the library, you take my weight again. If it's gone up, then I likely have a book hidden somewhere on me. If not, I'm clean. Then you take down all the books I wish to take with me and I leave."  
"It's not a foolproof system," Added Ansem, "But it works well enough. We take good care of our books."  
"Ah. Well then, if you would step this way sir..." Aqua motioned to the scale, ready to fully embrace her new job.  
After a slightly awkward run through of the 'library entry,' Zexion thanked Aqua and disappeared to the shelves.  
"How'd I do?" Asked Aqua  
"Not bad," replied Ansem "You were lucky Zexion was your first candidate."  
"Really?"  
"He's very patient, maybe the most patient of the 13."  
"The 13?"  
"They do let just about anyone into the watch. The 13 are 13 very powerful mages, each wielding the powers of the elements. They were taken away from their homes in the first few months of their lives and even though they are young, they are incredibly gifted."  
"So..."  
"Zexion is numbered 6th among their ranks. His expertise lies in illusion."  
"Ah. Interesting."  
"Don't pry too much into the affairs of the 13. You might end up as a greasy spot on the floor." Aqua flinched at that idea, and Ansem patted her on the shoulder "You're probably safe, though. Go back and read. I'll call you if I need you."

* * *

He didn't. No one else came into the library before Aqua had to leave and go to training at 4 o' clock, or 1600 hours, as they said in the guard. On the way to the yard, Aqua got minerly minorly lost, but she managed to find the Guard's courtyard. There, Zack was waiting.  
"Well, well. Look who finally got here."  
"I got lost," Aqua admitted "Can we start?"  
"Sure," Zack picked up the wooden copy of his huge long sword. "Let's get started."  
He swung and Aqua hopped backwards, nimbly avoiding the heavy cut out. Then she darted forwards and stabbed at Zack's chest with her own wooden copy. They repeated this for some time, this slash, dodge, stab. Though she never managed to touch Zack for whole training session, Aqua had improved considerably. The books on fencing she had found in the huge library, while not a true replacement for a teacher, had given her some good guidelines. Maybe, one day, she would be competent.  
At about 1900 hours (7:00), the training was still going on. Zack had gone on the defensive, Aqua launching most of the attacks on him, and when he did fight back, it was pretty halfhearted. After a few minutes of this, they had settled into an easy rhythm. Suddenly, Zack whipped out and caught Aqua unawares across the chest. She gasped and stumbled back against the central well, nearly loosing a hold of the sword.  
"Be ready for anything," snickered Zack.  
"Pfft." Aqua pushed herself away from the well, rubbing her chest. It was going to leave a bruise, but she was grinning anyway.  
Then her grin slowly faded.  
There were unearthly sounds echoing up from the well. Squeaking, rustling, and... squishing. "Zack... what..?"  
"What what?"  
"Those sounds..."  
He walked to the well beside Aqua and as the sounds echoed up to them, his face became grey and serious.  
"Come on. We're going back."  
"But Zack-"  
"There's nothing in the sewers. Come on!"  
He turned and left abruptly. Aqua stayed for a moment longer. "I never said there was anything in the sewers." She glanced down the well one more time before following Zack.  
If you had happened to look down the well at that very moment, you might have seen a pair of oddly shaped red eyes staring back up at you.  
So the third day ended.

**A/N: Well, this wasn't nearly as good as the other chapters, but I hoped you enjoyed it anyway.**


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